


Breaking the ice

by Glowing_dimp_as_an_ember



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, Mortal AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 10:41:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10717788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glowing_dimp_as_an_ember/pseuds/Glowing_dimp_as_an_ember
Summary: Maybe he could bear with the idea of falling a couple more times on the ice, and that change of mind certainly didn’t have anything to do with the idea of having a certain someone close to pull him up if necessary.





	Breaking the ice

Nico winced as he felt the weight of his body being pulled towards the layer of frozen water underneath him, occurrence that he would definitely blame on the annoying force of gravity, for what probably was the third or probably fourth time in the span of ten minutes. When he had signed up for an activity that involved sliding through a rather hard surface of ice, he hadn’t meant to say that he was alright with the bruises he could already sense were forming on his skin which was already slightly damaged by the cold breezes that appeared to be around just to test his patience, which he honestly didn’t had in great amount.

He quickly looked around, feeling his frown becoming more evident on his features and his face warming up in anger as he saw how everyone around him seemed to mock him while performing their movements with enough amount of quantity when talking about the balance between both practice and talent each individual on the rink had to avoid falling down like he had done more than he had originally thought he would end up doing. The scenes happening wherever he glanced were seriously starting to piss him off to a level he hadn’t been expecting.

When he had signed up for the exchange program his school had been offering, it sounded like a rather interesting idea. If he were to be honest with himself, it sounded somewhere near fun. Sure, he would have to do some work and such as it had been already stated when he had filled up all the forms required to postulate to the many other institutions the place he studied in had any kind of alliance, which for the dark-haired was just the dramatic way the person in chief of the international department had decided to name it to make the boring reunions he had had to attend in order to have his application in order.

He wouldn’t deny it, besides those annoyingly long meetings, the list of complains wasn’t as big as he originally thought it would end up being. Maybe the only thing he felt bothered about most of the time while preparing himself from his trip was the fact that he had to talk with the student that would receive him while he was away from home, he didn’t have enough social skills to properly interact with people he had seen passing by on the multiple hallways on his way to his classes so talking to someone he knew close to nothing about was anything but an easy task to him.

Nico, however, had to admit that accomplishing the duty he had been assigned to do could have been more complicated: at least he was not bound to leave audios or to call, though the later was probably just because dialing international would result in huge bills. Besides, he was certain if the situation was slightly different, the conversation between the two would have end up being really different, maybe being inexistent whatsoever.

Their interactions, ones the brown eyed was glad didn’t require him to have his face seen up close by some random stranger who, for a reason unknown to him, was more than alright with the idea of having to open the doors of his house to basically a stranger. Let someone he barely knew except for the document they made him fill of some personal information that was technically as general as it could get.

Of course, the dark-haired had received one of those in return: a couple of sheets of paper stapled together to display the data summited by a boy of jet black locks and sea green eyes as it could be seen in the picture next to his name. Those inked pieces of information, however, could not tell him beforehand that his appointed companion would disappear after leaving him to defend himself in an ice rink, on a city he knew very little about.

The brown eyed had just arrived the previous night, exhausted by the hours he had spent wandering around airports and walking through gates to then look out for another that, he always wished, would be the last. Battery life could only last a certain amount of time and he had, for sure, already used them enough in the waiting time for his first plane to take off, that being added to the fact that having an early flight and that he was starving himself while he looked at people eat not so far away from where he was sitting was clearly not helping his case.

After a considerable time of doing nothing but wishing for him to just arrive where he needed to be, he was more than glad that all the connections were finally in the past. He was sure he wouldn’t survive all of that process again if he had to repeat it.

Nico hadn’t been totally sure about how to feel when he stepped in front of the gate that displayed proudly that he had finally arrived to New York. His eyes continued to wander around, trying to recall the details on the photo he had seen a couple of times as he inspected the information about the other while he was at home, his glance finally stopping at the sight of someone with similar looks accompanied by two adults whose faces he couldn’t properly see until they heading towards his direction.

They all seemed like nice people, the dark-haired wasn’t going to lie, although he would have liked one of them staying home that day so he would have an excuse to stay laying down on his temporary bed instead of going out with the guy, Percy, in a small trip that would probably involve a considerable bunch of social skills.

Supposedly, he was going to visit the school that same morning, look around the classrooms and see which classes he would be attending since everyone would be going back, the vacations they had for the holidays being finally over. The weather was working against him though, with a lot of snow covering a vast portion of the city, the institution had decided to let all the student body have an extra day to rest.

Percy had thought it would be fun to show him something he sometimes did during those so called snowy days, if he recalled correctly that was the way he chose to name his twenty four hours of nothing in particular, taking him to an ice rink in the middle of what appeared to be a mix of a mall and a parking lot shortly after breakfast. The brown eyed probably wouldn’t be complaining as much if the other hadn’t suddenly disappear from his field of view as soon as his skates pushed him through the cold layer underneath him.

So there he was now: trying to go back to his standing position after epically failing to move to the sides where he could at least pretend to be somewhere near decent at the activity by gripping the railings, while trying to ignore the fact that he was probably now moving in frozen fabric.

“Do you want some help?” A voice said softly as a shadow stopped in front of him, planted into the surface with no apparent plans on going away until an answer were to be given.

Nico rolled his eyes at the stubbornness presented by the individual, before finally looking up from the spot on the ice he had been staring up for a considerable amount of time to fix his attention on the person who had interrupted his mental rant.

It was a boy, he personally doubted he was really older than him although he seemed taller despite the possibility that said guess could simply be born of a matter of perspective. Wavy blond locks framed his face, in a way bringing out two clear blue irises that were staring at him, although the messy look they gave away could as well be for the activity he had been performing judging by the lines on the ice underneath him.

“Well, do you? It seems like you need a hand.” The other spoke again, extending a gloved hand towards him, a brilliant grin adorning his freckled features.

The black haired huffed under his breath, the gesture letting away his state of obvious annoyance, somewhat offended by the offer.

“I can manage on my own.” He muttered, starting to push himself up with his arms to prove a point, one that quickly got dismissed as a possibility when he found himself crashing against the ice he had been trying to beat.

“Come on, I insist.” The blond said, leaning forward slightly so his arm was at a more reachable distance, wanting it to be more easy for the other to grab.

The owner of the dark chocolate irises found himself rolling his eyes one more time, cursing his situation silently on his mind before grabbing the offered hand in a hesitant manner.

“Could have done that myself.” Nico murmured unhappily as he finally managed to firmly stand on his feet, the sharpened blade sinking faintly into one of the layers of frozen water.

“Sure thing, Sunshine.” He heard the other pronounce, no actual teasing on his words but rather a strange tone of reassurance which he couldn’t really fully identify, which could might as well be because of the trace of an accent he hadn’t really heard before and had, in a way, caught his attention.

The dark-haired pulled his hand away, nearly losing his footing due to the rashness of his action. He quickly shook the small fragments of melting ice from his black jeans, mentally thanking the fact that nothing had slip into the small holes in between the fabric of his clothes.

He fixed his chocolate irises on the dark shoes he was wearing, he wondered how hard would it actually be for him to get to the railings he had thought about less than a couple of minutes ago. He couldn’t help but thank that there was no one he knew him, or that was likely to remember his face, around the area.

“Where do you come from?” The blond asked, breaking the silence that had come to settle on the atmosphere.

He looked up, fixing his attention back on the individual before him, whose gentle smile appeared to not having moved since the last time he had checked his features. “What makes you think I’m not from here?” Nico inquired back, not certain of what was the point of the other’s intervention or where exactly did that question even come from.

The blue eyed shrugged slightly, some of his blond locks falling to cover a fraction of his features. “Maybe it has something to do with the situation I found you in.” He said, tracing small patterns on the ice underneath him with the point of the blade attached to his shoe. “Probably that gave it away.”

The dark-haired glanced at the other for a couple of more seconds, his stare expectantly to figure out the reason for why the blond had not moved from the spot in front of his figure. No answer seemed to come or wish to make an appearance any time soon. If he probably had more trust on his none existent skills to move on ice, he would have probably gotten out already of the center of the sight field that could only belong to the person with the grin that had apparently stayed frozen in time.

“So?” His ears caught the question coming out from the mouth whose owner, for some inexplicable reason, continued to talk to him.

“So?” Nico echoed, his arms crossed and close to his chest as he stared firmly into the other’s blue eyed.

The other didn’t seem to notice, or mind whatsoever, the hint of hostility that started to progressively grow like a flame behind his eyes; instead simply proceeding to offer him a wider grin that, for an unknown motive, seemed to want to compete with the giant white reflectors surrounding the rink.

“You are obviously not from around.” He simply got as a response without obtaining any further explanation to support the point.

“Did I ever say I would tell?” The brown eyed asked, an eyebrow slightly raised, gesture that apparently only made the blond let out a soft chuckle.

Nico blinked a couple of times as if that were to clear his view of the obvious mirage in front of him. He honestly didn’t get the person in front of him: when he tried to initiate a conversation, which wasn’t really that often, his efforts didn’t really seem to matter; when that wasn’t the case, for some reason he couldn’t quite place, the opposite seemed to happen, the only time he could recall the later happening being that same day, that same moment.

“I suppose not.” The blond said, a trace of amusement present on his voice, his eyes not leaving his face as he awaited for the other to say something.

After seeing no signs of that not happening, contrary to the brown eyed beliefs, he didn’t skated pass him. Instead of doing any of the things he had thought as possible outcomes, the individual in front of his just quickly looked around before intervening again.

“Are you here alone?” He asked, his glance showing something that he could only describe as honest curiosity and maybe, although it could be more than just a little away from what he would consider a believable possibility, a hint of concern.

Nico knew he could very well just not answer to that, he knew very well that he could easily avoid the question, the other not really being in any position to demand anything from him. However, his current state of boredom really didn’t care anymore and, besides, he could bet Percy would take a while to come back.

“No, I’m not.” The dark-haired answered with a shrug, his thoughts unconsciously traveling to the specific point of time where he got separated from his companion who would, supposedly, show him around.

_Although I suppose I kind of am now_ , he couldn’t help but to add mentally.

He was about to open up his mouth again to say something else but he was interrupted by the laugher that came out from the spot in front of him.

“What are you laughing at?” The brown eyed asked somewhat defensively, his guard slowly going up again as he stared at the amused figure of the other.

The blond shook his head quickly, as if dismissing the possibility of the brown eyed being the center of the joke while also saying the later was not really a thing. “Nothing, just…it’s kind of audacious of you to try this on your own to be a beginner.” He admitted, his face tinted a faint shade of red that brought up the freckles dispersed around the other’s cheekbones.

Nico rolled his eyes as he glared at the other stubbornly, his feet firmly pressed on the icy ground, clearly not particularly happy with the words that he had just go to hear.

“I didn’t do it that bad.” The dark-haired said, the intensity of his stare not giving any signs of going down any time soon, his voice focused on making the message believable although he was certain the statement he pronounced was not really that close to what the scenario must have looked like in real life.

“That’s what makes it even more surprising.” The blue eyed spoke loud and clear, not a shadow of a doubt on his voice which made Nico’s glare soften up considerably, not really having been expecting to hear something else rather than teasing or a synonym equivalent to the word.

A loud noise coming from near their position forced him out of his surprised state, making him look around until he found the source of the sound while trying not to fall again. After less than a couple of seconds, his eyes stopped on a young girl who couldn’t have been more than ten years old who was currently sitting on the ground, small pieces of eyes around her and over her delicate winter clothes.

He was about to go towards her, the details of his plans weren’t really on his mind just yet, but the small child with a bushy ponytail quickly stood up, although hesitation could be seen on her face. She started to take a couple of careful steps before slowly sliding forward through the ice, her legs shaking a little as he started to make her way to one of the sides of the rink, clearly not wanting to slip due to the fear of hurting herself.

If he wasn’t so badly at ice skating, he would have probably tried to help her out: the railing was not so far away from their position but her legs were tinier than his and the way would take longer without adding that the distance would be seen as greater.

“Don’t give up, honey, you can make it. I believe in you.” The brown eyed heard the blond say encouraging as the girl passed near them both, earning a shy but brilliant smile from her as she continued her way, her eyes filled with determination.

“Do you really have to be so obnoxious?” Nico asked, a hidden hint of amusement on his glance, once the little child was no longer around the area they were in. He couldn’t help but to smile a little when she gave a thumbs up on their general direction after finally reaching her goal.

“How was that obnoxious?” The other shot back, his head slightly tilted to the side in curiosity.

The brown eyed simply shrugged, looking anywhere but the blond before glancing at him once more to give an answer that, in his opinion, could have probably been better if he had had more time available to think of a suitable reprise. “It just was, end of the discussion.”

The owner of the blue irises let out a quiet chuckle, rolling his eyes in a playful way. “If that’s what makes you happy…”

“It does not but it makes me feel less angry about my luck.” The dark-haired snorted, which only seemed to bring a soft laugh out of the other’s lips.

Before he could comment about his weird behavior, the blond carefully grabbed him by the wrist and started to slowly move closer to one of the sides, pulling Nico along with him.

“Come on.” He said cheerfully as he slid through the ice, making it slightly hard for the other to keep up with him, although he was certain that without the grip on his arm, one that was clearly not asked for to begin with but was incredibly convenient at the time, the outcome would have ended up being worse.

“What are you doing?” The black haired couldn’t help but ask while he was being led to a considerably empty space where barely a couple of individuals could be seen.

The question made the other stop on his track. Nico felt compelled to question the sudden change when his companion turned around on his feet, excitement present on his voice. “I’m giving you some quick ice skating lessons.”

His glance fixed its attention on the figure in front of him, blinking a couple of times to make sure he was looking at the situation correctly, the words repeating themselves inside his head as if they were trying to make sure he had gotten the message.

“Excuse me?” He couldn’t help but let out incredulously as his eyes analyzed the expression wore by the other.

The blond absently played with the tip of his gloves, pulling from the material slightly before twisting it in a nervous gesture, quickly looking at the hard cold surface they were standing over. “Well, I just thought you would like to not meet face to face with cracking ice nor with the blade of one of these.”

The brown eyed let out a defeated sigh. As much he would rather deny it, and as much as he would have like turning down the offer, in reality, he probably could use the little help he was being offered. Of course, he would never pronounce that out loud, especially not for the energetic freckled boy to hear.

“What are we doing first?” He simply muttered under his breath as he pulled his arm away, looking at the other with the corner of his eye.

“We start with the basic thing: not falling.”

Nico couldn’t stop himself from snorting, rolling his eyes at the words he had just heard that were, in his opinion and probably in a shared mentality, pretty much an obvious step. “No, genius.”

The blond crossed his arms, trying to do a convincing serious face which was obviously not working from his point of view. “Don’t sass me, I’m the teacher here.” He took a deep breath of air before proceeding to talk. “Anyway, as I was saying, a very important thing is avoid as much as possible smacking one’s head against this frozen beauty over here.” The blue eyed said as he motioned to the layer of ice with his head before placing his attention back on him. “Now, let me see how is that equilibrium of yours.”

_You put yourself into this_ , the dark-haired reminded himself as he did his best to stand firmly, putting a lot of effort on preventing his legs from wobbling way too much.

His companion made a small noise of approval. “Not bad at all. Although, try to separate your feet a little, you wouldn’t like to trip with your own feet, trust me on that.”

Besides his better judgement, he let out a short laugh as he imagined the person in front of him, who insisted on teaching him how not to fall, doing the exact opposite he had advised him to do.

“Hey! Don’t laugh!” The owner of the blue eyes wined, mumbling his words quietly under his breath. “It’s not as fun as you make it seem.”

“Oh, I would disagree.” He differed from the statement pronounced by the other, the corners of his lips tugged up a little.

The blond rolled his eyes in a slightly amused way, not discussing the matter again but rather just letting it be. “Whatever, Sunshine.”

“Can you stop calling me that?” Nico muttered, an eyebrow raised impatiently.

“Then how should I address you like?” The other asked with genuine interest glowing on his eyes.

Seconds passed slowly, time passed by and he still couldn’t seem to give an answer to that. The blue eyed apparently had taken the silent answer already and was about to either apologize or simply ignore that certain moment had ever happened, but the unexpected sound of another voice cut his line of thoughts.

“Nico.”

His glance stopped on the dark-haired, who in that short period of timed wished to know what was happening on his brain. His companion seemed to get out of his dumfounded state before he could even attempted to make any assumptions.

“That’s a really nice name.” The other let out, what appeared to be delicate dimples threatening to make an appearance on his face.

“I suppose I could say that the same could apply to you but I would be lying.” The brown eyed replied in a rather soft tone, no trace of snarkiness present behind his words.

“Will, the name’s Will.” The blond, _Will_ , he corrected himself mentally, said, the lights surrounding the place illuminating the other’s cheeks while they were slowly turning a gentle pink coloration.

“Well, maybe it is not so bad to meet you, Will.” Nico admitted, a little, almost unnoticeable, side smile starting to spread along his features.

The blue eyed cleared his throat, the unexpected sound forcing his companion to try to put a neutral face again, task that was not really going that well for the other. “Now, back to your flash lesson of the day.” He extended his arms widely, almost as if he were going for a hug. “Try taking a couple of steps towards my general direction.”

“I’m not a baby, I know how to walk.” The shorter boy huffed as he rolled his eyes, annoyed to some extent.

Will looked at the other in amusement before pronouncing softly but in a strong enough way to prove how truthful his words were being. “I never stated otherwise, Neeks.”

The dark-haired raised an eyebrow at the nickname he had just been given, considerably curious of where exactly had it come from. He was certain that if he hadn’t heard worse ones, he would have been incredibly pissed.

“Push yourself forwards slightly.” The blond continued after getting no response, motioning towards his general direction as he stared at the other’s actions, or rather looked forward to them.

Nico stubbornness got the best of him, something inside his veins burning nonstop forced him to do as instructed but in a more rushed way than what the movement was most likely intended to be, leaving his body to stumble onward.

“But not like that!” The other exclaimed before quickly moving closer to the brown eyed, grabbing his arm tightly as the later slowly regain his footing. “Start slow…and one leg forward at the time.”

Will sighed quietly before biting the inside of his cheek, his brain trying to come up with something else that could work to explain what he meant in a better way, or at least that was what Nico thought the blue eyed was trying to accomplish.

“Have you ever just used skates before? On land instead of ice?” The blond asked lively, his eyes full of energy as he seemed to bounce up and down in anticipation.

Nico glanced at his companion warily before giving a small nod. “I have indeed…”

The brown eyed didn’t mention that his answer was based on pure technicalities, he would like to keep some of his dignity intact, or at least what it would be left of it after the failure the entire thing would end up being.

The owner of the clear blue irises seemed pleased by the answer, leading his grin to go wider. “Is similar to that when talking about things like just sliding through the surface to get somewhere else.”

_I bet is really not as easy as you make it sound_ , he answered mentally to the other’s words. He had never been that good at the other kind of skating the blond had mentioned previously so he had his reasons to doubt the suggestion he had just been given.

Sure, the dark-haired knew the basics and other things like those that could be considered to be beginner’s stuff, he knew what to do to not have a meeting face to face with the hard ground. Was he ever good at performing those abilities himself? That as a completely different story, he couldn’t really recall when was the last time he had ever pulled out that certain activity, his old skates were dusting on one of the dark corners of his closet.

Perhaps his companion had sensed the doubt present on his general reaction because he soon found himself staring at an extended arm, firmly placed in front of him as a human railing.

“You can use it as a support” The blond explained before moving the limb to a more distant position, still being close enough for the other to take on the offer. ”Just in case.” He quickly added at the intensity of the stare a pair of dark chocolate eyes were giving him.

Nico rolled his eyes slightly, hesitantly placing a hand near the arm covered by warm clothing material but not grabbing onto it. The black haired bent his knees a little, taking a deep breath prior to lifting one of his feet slightly and pushing the ice underneath him once it got to feel the frozen surface again.

He took the fact that he didn’t trip as a good sign, continuing to slide through the rink, forcing himself to ignore how awkward it felt when the sides of the shoes bumped with his ankles.

“Not bad for a beginner.” Will said once they found themselves near the railings in front of the counter outside the area where a rather large number of people could be seen either watching other’s skate or seeing a pair of shoes that was a perfect fit before they were the ones trying out their luck on the ice.

“Maybe it still sucked because my teacher didn’t do a decent job.” The brown eyed teased as he leaned against the metal surface, his fingers gripping tightly its circular form as a precaution.

The blond let out a chuckle, leaning forwards slightly to enunciate his own phrase, probably going to a dramatic approach. “Maybe I’ll have a small talk with said person later on then.”

“Perhaps I will hold you to those words.”

A messy speck of black locks came into his field of view, becoming less blurry as it got of the check-in place whose appearance, in all honesty, reminded him more of a greenhouse than anything else.

“Nico! Hey!” A voice he soon recognized called for him as the owner of said vocal chords made his way towards him through the crowd of people that were starting to enter the area. “Sorry about taking that long, I had something to take care of and I guess I might have lost track of time.” Percy apologized as he slid closer to his location.

He was about to open his mouth to say something else directed towards the brown eyed when his glance caught on his blond companion, his focus of attention fixing to the later.

“Oh, hey, Will. Enjoying the snowy day?” The boy with the sea green eyes asked, now aware of the other’s presence, leaving Nico to wonder how exactly was it that the two of them knew each other and what were the odds that they could have coincidently met up in such a busy location.

“Well, it meant an unexpected extra day of vacations. How could I stop myself from enjoying that?” The blue eyed replied with a shrug, a gentle smile dancing on his lips.

“Good point.” The other replied with a laugh to then motion to the shorter person on his side. “I see you have already met Nico.”

The brown eyed managed to give a small wave in his confusion, not really sure of how should exactly be his approach.

“We have already exchanged some words.” Will admitted in an easy-going tone, making Percy raise an eyebrow at the unexpected answer although his reaction was present for less than a quarter of second, disappearing shortly after to wrap an arm around Nico’s shoulders, one the later moved away.

“He’s part of the exchange program, the guess room on my house is currently his place.” He elaborated to then turn to face the owner of the brown eyes who was just staring at their interaction silently. “Will attends to the same school so you two will probably cross paths more than once.”

“That would explain some things.” The blond said with a small chuckle, quickly glancing at Nico before looking at the other once again.

The brown eyed huffed, crossing his arms stubbornly at the comment. “Stop comparing my ice skating skills with the ones displayed by others.”

Will placed a hand on his chest, faking offense. “I wasn’t doing such a thing.”

Percy cracked a little side smirk, giving him a troublemaker aura that was clearly something he had never really seen before. “Was he show offing?” He asked tauntingly, his stare shifting to Nico who didn’t think he could be more confused about the hidden information the pair of greenish irises were not willing to share with him.

I was not!” It didn’t take long for the blue eyed to exclaim, his cheeks quickly turning a bright shade of red as he looked around, ashamed by his sudden outburst.

“Calm down, Solace, I was only joking.” The taller black haired gave the other a reassuring smile, the blond following shortly after in a hesitant manner. “Though it’s true, the way you move through the ice rink can make a lot of people jealous.”

Nico raised an eyebrow slightly, doubt present on his voice as he spoke. “He can’t possibly be that good.”

“But he is, not that he shows it when a lot of people happen to be around though.” The owner of the sea green eyes announced proudly, as if he was talking of his own achievements.

“Can we not talk about that?” Will mumbled under his breath, a bright blush still present on his cheeks, although it was slowly becoming darker.

“Alright, figure skater, I won’t go on details.” Percy said, however, judged by the face of the blond, what was already spoken was more than enough. “Although, maybe you could give Nico here a demonstration sometime.” The blue eyed sent him a quick glare though, in his embarrassed state, the gesture looked anything but menacing, appearing to be a plead more than anything else. Maybe it was because the dark haired had caught the message, or maybe it was just a silent help from an unknown entity, but he soon checked the screen of his phone to then make a quick announcement prior to sliding to a further area. “Excuse me for a second.”

Will bitted his bottom lip slightly, his eyes wandering around the place without stopping in any figure in particular, especially avoiding the brown irises that were looking at him intensely.

“Figure skater?” Nico asked curiously, breaking the silence that had fallen over the atmosphere.

The blond looked at the other hesitantly, playing with the fingertips of his gloves as he held his stare. “It sounds kind of ridiculous, I know but-”

“I think the word that would feel better is peculiar.” The dark-haired suddenly interrupted, leaving his companion blinking dumbfounded before a small grin started to spread through his features.

“You could show me one of these days, you know?” Nico inquired, looking up at the other, feeling his cheeks warming up considerably.

“I… What?” Will questioned, nervously passing a hand through his hair, messing his blond locks out of place.

The brown eyed rubbed the back of his neck, before taking a deep breath to mentally prepare himself to continue wording. “Well, I mean, I could use some practice.”

The blond opened his mouth to answer when a faint sound muffled by the music coming from the speakers around the rink made him reach for the pocket of his jacket, quickly pulling out a phone to then look at his companion with an apologetic expression.

“Maybe some other day.” He said before tearing his eyes from the screen of the device, a soft grin displayed on his face as he slowly started to head towards the exit. “Well, it was nice talking to you but I’m afraid I have to go now. See you tomorrow?”

Nico cracked a little side smile, waving goodbye slowly as he tried his best to ignore the bubbling feeling growing on his stomach. “See you then.”

The frozen surface underneath him still pretty much hated him, the brown eyed didn’t need any more evidence to prove that specific point. It was a decent activity, just not one really made for him or one he had the skills to do on his own in a decent way just yet. That wasn’t synonym of him being repelled by it though.

Maybe he could bear with the idea of falling a couple more times on the ice, and that change of mind certainly didn’t have anything to do with the idea of having a certain someone close to pull him up if necessary.

**Author's Note:**

> [I'm also on tumblr](http://glowing-dimp-as-an-ember.tumblr.com/)


End file.
